(Yicai Global) Jan. 26 -- Yesterday, home appliance giant Haier Group Corp. reported its highest annual net profit ever.

The Qingdao-based group's net profit jumped 41 percent annually to CNY30.1 billion (USD4.71 billion) last year, and its revenue rose 20 percent to CNY241.9 billion, state-backed online media outlet The Paper quoted Haier Vice President Li Huagang as saying.

The company expects the proportion of revenue it generates in overseas markets to increase to over 50 percent this year from 40 percent last year, Li said.

The revenue of Haier's premium Casarte brand climbed more than 40 percent last year, said Li. It has become China's top premium home appliance brand and uses Sanyo Electric Co. manufacturing processes. Haier bought Sanyo Electric from Panasonic Corp. for JPY10 billion (USD91 million) in 2011.

Haier bought General Electric Co.'s home appliance unit for USD5.58 billion in 2016. It has 54 plants outside China. They can produce 20 million units per year. The group has set up nine research and development centers in countries such as the US, Japan and New Zealand.

Haier introduced COSMOPlat, an open cooperative platform for industrial companies, last year. Some 3.83 million businesses have signed up on it.